A mining tech unicorn: KoBold's $195M round

Mining startup KoBold Metals has raised a $195 million round, led by T. Rowe Price.

Details: Berkeley, Calif.-based KoBold says the round brings its valuation to $1.15 billion, making it a climate-tech unicorn.

• KoBold CEO Kurt House tells the Wall Street Journal that part of the funding will be used to develop recently acquired copper reserves in Zambia.

How it works: KoBold Metals applies artificial intelligence to battery mineral exploration.

• The company builds a database about the Earth's crust and uses algorithms to mine the data to make predictions about where mineral deposits are around the globe.

Zoom In: The mining industry is in desperate need of digital technology to help it both meet the booming demand for mined minerals and clean up its legacy of dirty practices.

Of note: The round was led by T. Rowe Price, and included existing investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Breakthrough Energy Ventures (the fund backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos) and Bond, a VC firm co-founded by Mary Meeker.

• The round also included Standard Investments, Equinor Ventures (the VC arm of Norway's state oil company), BHP Ventures, Mitsubishi Corporation, Earthshot Ventures and the July Fund.

The bottom line: One of the biggest barriers to the clean economy will be local communities pushing back on the environmental repercussions of mining. And justifiably so, since mining companies have been responsible for significant pollution around the world.

• As the world transitions to using more electric vehicles, minerals like lithium, cobalt and nickel are in high demand. Mining companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence and data tools to find and access new deposits.
• Artificial intelligence and digital technology can help mining companies find and manage mining assets more efficiently and cleanly. At the same time, with better digital tools to find deposits, more regions around the world will be mined to meet the growing demand for minerals.